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Four diaries and a nineteen-page memoir of Allen D. Frankenberry (1841-1909), who served chiefly as an orderly and signalman in the 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry from August 1862 to September 1863 and the U.S. Signal Corps in the Department of the Cumberland from October 1863 to June 1865. Frankenberry's diaries are available only on microfilm and are divided into four volumes: Book I, August 20, 1862-September 10, 1863; Book II, September 9, 1864-February 15, 1865; Book III, February 16, 1865-March 8, 1865; and Book IV, January 1, 1868-September 30, 1870. Books I, II, and III document Frankenberry's Civil War service with almost daily entries that chiefly describe his movements (travel in Pennsylvania and Maryland in 1862, Tennessee and Kentucky in 1863, Georgia and North Carolina in 1864 and 1865), foraging for food, rations, camp and quarters, drill, and horses. There is very little information about battles, except for Frankenberry's Signal Corps duty at Kennesaw Mountain and during the battle of Allatoona Pass in October 1864. Topics from the fall of 1864 and early 1865 also include Gen. William T. Sherman, Maj. Gen. John Corse, and prisoners in North Carolina. Book IV tells of Frankenberry's life after the war, including the cutting, sawing, and selling of timber in Point Marion, Penn., and his daily life, including church, home, and marriage. Collection also includes a photocopy of Frankenberry's Civil War memoir. Most of this nineteen-page document, which was written circa 1905, focuses on the Signal Corps during the battle of Allatoona Pass and Frankenberry's return visit to the site of the battle in 1895. He describes the actions and messages of Gen. William T. Sherman and Maj. Gen. John Corse and the gospel song "Hold the Fort."

A microfilm copy of the McClellan Papers, Vols. 12-14, held by the Library of Congress. There are letters to and from Gen. McClelland and his staff headquartered in Cincinnati. Also there are Confederate letters presumably captured during McClellan's first campaign into western Virginia. The rebel correspondence is between A.J. Wilson at Grafton and his family of Franklin and also orders from Richmond to Col. George Porterfield. Porterfield mentions the difficulty of raising Confederate companies from the local population in northwestern Virginia. Noteworthy correspondence (21, May 1861) to McClellan from Gen. Winfield Scott, Dept. of the Army, Washington, DC reiterates the Western Department's objective as being an offensive to secure the Mississippi River and not a campaign into north-west Virginia. Also reports to the Federal army by local citizens of the Kanawha Valley about the activities of the occupying Confederate forces. Reputedly the Confederates were imposing themselves on a Unionist population by drafting unwilling conscripts and influencing the outcome of secessionist referendums. In general, the letters of this collection are about military conditions and popular sentiment in the Western Theater, particularly western Virginia at the beginning of the Civil War.

A diary of an overland frontier journey to the California gold fields by H. B. Heiskell. The account is about traveling from the Rockies to the Sierras. As part of a wagon train, Heiskell mentions fellow passengers and the daily events of the journey. He notes in detail the scenery, particularly the character of the soil and streams. Mention is made of Native Americans/First Nations Peoples, namely the Paiutes, Shoshonees and Utes. Rumors are related about prices in California, the death of President Polk, and the Mormon settlement at Salt Lake City. The volume also contains a scrapbook portion composed of newspaper clippings about various members of the Heiskell family of Tennessee and related families such as Wallace, Roberts, Frierson and Witzmann.

Letters written by Jacob Pinick, first sergeant of Company A, 32nd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, to John and William McLaughlin in Ohio. The letters detail the service of Pinick's company in western Virginia, Virginia, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina. There are many detailed accounts of battles and marches, and expressions of political sentiments of soldiers. There is also a record book of Company A containing rolls and service records, and notes on the history of the company from 12 July 1861 to 27 July 1865, when the company was mustered out, and several letters from members of the Pinick family in western Virginia and Wisconsin.

Fourteen letters, thirteen from J.M. Vandeman of Adams Co., Ohio, a Union soldier in Co. B, 33rd Ohio Volunteer Company, 3rd Division, 9th Brigade, and one from W.T. and H.A. Wright of Webster City, Hamilton Co., Iowa. All are addressed to Miss S. Jane Vandeman in Adams Co., Ohio. The letters from J.M. Vandeman were written between 6 October 1861 and 25 December 1862; the letter from the Wrights is dated 1866. The letters of 1861-1862 were written from various locations in Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama and describe life as a Union soldier, including camp life, battles, and hospital stays. In addition to the letters, there is a document dated September 17, 1864, appointing George G. Menelly as 2nd lieutenant, 173rd Reg., Ohio Volunteer Infantry for one year.

Diary and account book, 1804-1811, of John Thompson containing accounts of items bought and sold, money owed by and to Thompson, two journeys on the Mississippi River between Nashville, Natchez, and New Orleans, 1804-1805, and numerous remedies for diseases and medical complaints. There is a second diary by Robert C. Thompson, a Confederate soldier, from August 1862 to February 1863. Robert Thompson was a member of a Tennessee unit, imprisoned at Camp Morton, exchanged in September 1862, and spent the remainder of the time covered by the diary with his reorganized company in Mississippi near Vicksburg. Places mentioned include Camp Morton near Indianapolis, Indiana; Richmond, Virginia; Gallatin and Memphis, Tennessee; Cairo, Illinois; Columbus and Hickman, Kentucky; Vicksburg, Clinton, Jackson, Corinth, Holly Spring, Tippa Ford, and Oxford, Mississippi.

The interviews, correspondence, notes and reports of a Wisconsin based, New York born antiquarian and early researcher of frontier history. Lyman C. Draper's manuscripts were willed to the Wisconsin State Historical Society where he had been its corresponding secretary and instrumental in its development. Microfilm was produced by the society of his papers and made available for purchase to libraries because of their significance for studying the Eastern frontier and its pioneers. Draper had originally planned to publish on the basis of these manuscripts a series of books on frontier history and biographies of famous pioneers. Only one was published, King's Mountain and Its Heroes. Draper, in his writings, generally reflected biases common to white male Americans of the nineteenth century but he collected many documents and interviewed women, Native Americans, and African Americans connected with the frontier and their descendents. Indeed he had collected enough material that he had decided to write biographies of chiefs: Tecumseh and Joseph Brant. Other materials for biographies are of white frontier notables such as Daniel Boone, George Rogers Clark, Lewis Wetzel, Simon Kenton, and Samuel Brady. His papers are also organized regionally with holdings encompassing an area bordered by the western parts of Virginia and the Carolinas and portions of Georgia and Alabama, encompassing the entire Ohio River Valley, and part of the upper Mississippi Valley from the era of frontier conflicts in the 1740's and 1750's to the American Revolution and the War of 1812.

Includes genealogy and Civil War records collected by Roy Bird Cook of Lewis County, West Virginia. Series 1 through 5 were compiled by Marcellus W. Zimmerman. They include correspondence, church records, academic records, genealogical records, research manuscripts, and clippings regarding primarily the genealogy and history of Lewisburg and Greenbrier County, and the life and career of Confederate Brigadier General Alexander W. Reynolds. Series 6 through 8 were collected by Roy Bird Cook. They include military records and clippings regarding West Virginia units, the Confederate 31st Virginia Infantry, and other Confederate units from Virginia; there are also business and miscellaneous records, including ledgers, clippings, research notes, etc. Series 9 includes oversized material from earlier series.

Papers of Jewett Palmer, a Union Army officer, Mayor of Marietta (Ohio), and Republican official of Washington County (Ohio). Includes correspondence, daily journals, clipping scrapbooks, military records, genealogical and autobiographical notes, and printed materials. The papers regard the activities of Company B of the 18th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (OVI) and Company G of the 36th OVI. There are also papers of Palmer's wife, Saida Scott, who taught music. Addendum of 1996/09/23 contains a muster roll of Company G, 36th OVI, signed by Captain Jewett Palmer, for 10/31/1863 - 12/31/1863. See Scope and Content Note for more information.